Scientists have identified a new cellular structure called hemifusomes, measuring 200 to 400 nanometres in diameter, that aids in recycling and waste management within cells. The presence of hemifusomes contributes to processes related to disease, including Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome. Researchers utilized cryo-electron tomography to visualize these structures without damaging samples, revealing them as two thin bubbles connected at the edges. Hemifusomes likely play a role in producing vesicles, which serve as transport vehicles within the cell.
The hemifusome helps manage how cells package and process material, and when this goes wrong, it may contribute to diseases that affect many systems in the body.
Finding something truly new inside cells is rare - and it gives us a whole new path to explore. This is like discovering a new recycling centre inside the cell.
Since hemifusomes are exceptionally small, the researchers needed extremely sensitive equipment to spot them and observed structures that looked like two thin bubbles stuck together.
You can think of vesicles like little delivery trucks inside the cell. The hemifusome is like a loading area that helps manage this transport.
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